The present invention relates to methods and apparatus that can be used for efficient end-of-line (EOL) testing of electrochemical stacks once they are assembled, and prior to break-in or operation of the stack. Rapid test methods and test methods that can be performed in parallel to detect different types of defects are described. Embodiments of the methods and apparatus can be used for testing PEM fuel cell stacks and electrolyzers.

The invention provides an electrochemical model based method for early warning for a lithium battery, including establishing a three-dimensional electrochemical model for the lithium battery, and dividing the lithium battery into three portions respectively including a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a separator; performing spatial discretization on the three-dimensional electrochemical model according to a preset accuracy to establish the four-dimensional spatial coordinates of the lithium battery; obtaining a current lithium ion concentration in each position of the lithium battery by simulation based on the four-dimensional space coordinates, a historical lithium ion concentration and a historical diffusion coefficient of the lithium battery; and performing early warning for the lithium battery according to the current lithium ion concentration in each position. The method adopts the volumetric SOC or surface SOC of the lithium battery for operation management, which is direct and objective, and can be is applied to most external environments.

The invention provides an electrochemical model based method for early warning for a lithium battery, including establishing a three-dimensional electrochemical model for the lithium battery, and dividing the lithium battery into three portions respectively including a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a separator; performing spatial discretization on the three-dimensional electrochemical model according to a preset accuracy to establish the four-dimensional spatial coordinates of the lithium battery; obtaining a current lithium ion concentration in each position of the lithium battery by simulation based on the four-dimensional space coordinates, a historical lithium ion concentration and a historical diffusion coefficient of the lithium battery; and performing early warning for the lithium battery according to the current lithium ion concentration in each position. The method adopts the volumetric SOC or surface SOC of the lithium battery for operation management, which is direct and objective, and can be is applied to most external environments.

There is provided a battery comprising an electrochemical unit comprising at least one electrochemical cell. The at least one electrochemical cell comprises a cell anode, a cell cathode and an electrolyte in contact with said cell anode and cell cathode. The electrochemical unit further comprises a first contact electrode mounted on a surface of the electrochemical unit. The battery further comprises a second contact electrode positioned adjacent to the electrochemical unit, whereby the first and second contact electrodes face each other to allow a contact resistance between the first contact electrode and second contact electrode to be measured.

There is provided a battery comprising an electrochemical unit comprising at least one electrochemical cell. The at least one electrochemical cell comprises a cell anode, a cell cathode and an electrolyte in contact with said cell anode and cell cathode. The electrochemical unit further comprises a first contact electrode mounted on a surface of the electrochemical unit. The battery further comprises a second contact electrode positioned adjacent to the electrochemical unit, whereby the first and second contact electrodes face each other to allow a contact resistance between the first contact electrode and second contact electrode to be measured.

A control method of a secondary battery in which malfunction is less likely to occur and abnormality detection can be performed with high accuracy is provided. A charge state estimation device of a secondary battery including a device which generates electromagnetic noise, a first detection means which measures a voltage value of a secondary battery electrically connected to the device, a second detection means which measures a current value of the secondary battery electrically connected to the device, a correction means which extracts a causal relationship between electromagnetic noise and a driving pattern from data including multiple electromagnetic noise obtained using the first detection means or the second detection means, and an arithmetic means which calculates a charge rate using a regression model based on data after data correction.

A control method of a secondary battery in which malfunction is less likely to occur and abnormality detection can be performed with high accuracy is provided. A charge state estimation device of a secondary battery including a device which generates electromagnetic noise, a first detection means which measures a voltage value of a secondary battery electrically connected to the device, a second detection means which measures a current value of the secondary battery electrically connected to the device, a correction means which extracts a causal relationship between electromagnetic noise and a driving pattern from data including multiple electromagnetic noise obtained using the first detection means or the second detection means, and an arithmetic means which calculates a charge rate using a regression model based on data after data correction.

An apparatus and method for determining electrode information of a battery including a positive electrode and a negative electrode, and a battery pack including the apparatus. The apparatus includes a sensing unit configured to measure a voltage and a current of the battery, and a processor. The processor generates a V-dQ/dV curve based on the voltage and the current of the battery. The V-dQ/dV curve indicates a relationship between V (the voltage of the battery) and dQ/dV (a ratio of an amount of change dQ of the remaining capacity to an amount of change dV of the voltage of the battery). The processor detects a plurality of feature points from the V-dQ/dV curve. The processor determines information associated with each of the first electrode and the second electrode as the electrode information based on the plurality of feature points.

A sorting mechanism includes a flap that selects a first path connecting from a battery outlet of a charging section to a battery inlet of a first compartment section as a path to introduce a first battery to the first compartment section in a case of housing the first battery in the first compartment section, and that selects a second path connecting from the battery outlet of the charging section to a battery inlet of a second compartment section as a path to introduce a second battery to the second compartment section in a case of housing the second battery in the second compartment section.

A battery made up of nickel-cadmium cells includes an indicator for displaying a state of charge comprising sensors for performing continuous measurements of voltage and current and of temperature of the battery, a memory storing at least a history of charge/discharge, a predefined reference voltage, current and temperature, and the measurements and history determined, and a control unit for determining an operation mode of the battery and determining a correction to be applied to the voltage and current measured, calculating a theoretically available capacity of the battery depending on the operating mode and the correction, determining a need for recalibration of the theoretically available capacity of the battery enabling a capacity actually available of the battery to be calculated, and based on the capacity actually available, defining the state of charge of the battery.